Yes. Settlement is voluntary, so you cannot be certain of getting a result. To obtain a result from mediation, the parties will have to agree to resolve the matter. There is no outside party imposing a solution, and there is a risk of the process being exploited by a cynical opponent. However, even if the parties fail to reach agreement, and go back to court to get the matter settled, the amount of thought that has gone into deciding what the issues are, and where the parties' interests really lie, is likely to make it much easier to reach a solution than it would have been otherwise.
Another potential disadvantage is that, although recourse to ADR is likely to take less time than recourse to the courts, it will not stop the clock running where there is a limit on the amount of time within which a legal claim can be made. This is something you need to factor into your considerations, if you are thinking of using ADR.
